Wu Renhua, who is an exiled Chinese protester and historian weighed in on China’s 20th Party Congress, stating that after the event, Beijing might accelerate and push harder for the so-called Taiwan reunification.
President Xi Jinping is expected to win a third five-year term as general secretary of the ruling party at the congress to be held in Beijing on Sunday.
China claims Taiwan as its territory and even said that Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen will defy Beijing’s one-nation policy by pushing for formal independence. China said that, in case needed, it will use force to unite the two territories.
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“(Xi Jinping) has made Taiwan reunification one of China’s major national rejuvenation goals. It has been pushing this narrative to the Chinese public,” Wu, a participant in the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests who now lives in exile in the US, said as translated by AFP.
“If Xi cannot successfully reunite Taiwan with China, he won’t be able to prove his ability to fulfill ‘the Great Rejuvenation of the Chinese Nation'”, Wu added at a Taipei forum.
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Taiwan has rejected China’s claims and it has its own constitution and leaders are elected democratically. The US says it backs the sovereignty of the island.
Wu further added that the Chinese Communist government would try to ease tensions with the US after the Congress meeting as China still relies very heavily on the US in the high-technology sector.
“If the whole semiconductor industry were to collapse, it would be a big blow to China’s economy. So I think that after the 20th Party Congress, the Chinese Communist government will actively adjust its policy towards the US in hope of easing tensions between both countries,” he said.
“But I feel the US will not return to the past, because during the Xi era, the US has realised that it is “nurturing a tiger and inviting calamity” and that China has replaced Russia to become America’s biggest competitor and enemy,” he added.
Meanwhile, a Communist Party spokesman said on Saturday that the nation reserves the right to use force over Taiwan as a last resort in compelling circumstances, though peaceful reunification is its first choice.
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